Hachette reports ebook sales have plummeted

Hachette has just announced that sales in the United States has decreased by 4.2% in the third quarter ended September 30, compared to the same period last year. They have also reported that e-Books accounted for 24% of total book sales in the first nine months of 2015, down from 28% in the January-September period of 2014.

The United States is not the only market that has seen a decline in digital revenue. Hachette has also reported that e-Book sales have also fallen in the U.K. and accounted for 30% of total book sales, down from 34% a year ago. Despite the drop in e-book sales, overall revenue in the U.K. rose 1.2% due to a good performance in education and strong sales of adult coloring books.

In the last few weeks other major publishers such as Harper Collins and Simon & Schuster have both acknowledged that e-book sales have fallen not only in the past three months, but all of 2015.

Michael Kozlowski is the Editor in Chief of Good e-Reader. He has been writing about audiobooks and e-readers for the past ten years. His articles have been picked up by major and local news sources and websites such as the CNET, Engadget, Huffington Post and Verge.

Thanks. Actually they explain the UK drop as being relative to the rise in VAT. I’d be really curious to see the graphs before and after the price changes.

Arphaxad

No one should be surprised at this. Once big corporate publishers got control over their authors ebook prices they jacked up the price. Readers moved on to more affordable books. No big mystery here.

Tim

I agree with Arphaxad but would like to add that I can many times buy a paperback book cheaper than the eBook. Also, why are older books still at full price? I don’t get that. Say I want to read all of Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels. The earlier books in the series should be discounted perhaps in a staged manner as time gets closer to now. For me, I visit my used book store and pick up the earlier novels for under a dollar a piece. If I could get Killing Floor for 2.99 on my eReader, I would buy it, but I am not paying 9.99.